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Kevin McKenna selected to guide men's basketball program

March 29 2007

Indiana State University Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman announced Thursday(March 29)that Kevin McKenna has accepted an offer to become the 24th head menâ€™s basketball coach at ISU. McKenna succeeds Royce Waltman, who guided the Sycamores for the last 10 seasons.

â€œI am pleased to announce the hiring of Kevin McKenna as the new head menâ€™s basketball coach at Indiana State University,â€ Prettyman said. â€œCoach McKenna has been successful at every step of his career as a college player, professional player, businessman, assistant coach and head coach.

â€œI am confident that he will continue his impressive string of successes at Indiana State. He is not only a fine recruiter and coach, but he is an educator. He has great plans for our program and will put together a coaching staff that is second to none.

"He has a delightful family and will be a tremendous role model for the young men in our program for many years to come. We are fortunate to have someone of coach McKennaâ€™s caliber lead our program into the future. Join me in welcoming coach McKenna and his family to Terre Haute and the Wabash Valley.â€

McKenna recently completed his ninth season at Creighton as an assistant coach, helping the Bluejays to a 22-11 record and the NCAA tournament this past season. In nine years, the Bluejays went to four NCAA tournaments as well as two National Invitation Tournaments. McKenna made the first of two stops on the Bluejaysâ€™ bench from 1994 through 2001, and then returned in 2005.

Before McKenna returned to Creighton, he spent four highly successful years across town as head coach of NCAA Division II Nebraska-Omaha, where he guided the Mavericks to four consecutive 20-win seasons, two North Central Conference titles and three appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

The 47-year old McKenna was named the NCC Coach of the Year in both 2004 and 2005 as well as North Central Regional Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in 2005. He fi nished with an 89-33 mark in his tenure at UNO.

In his first campaign with the Mavericks, UNO set a school record with 24 wins as they made their fi rst visit to the NCAA Division II Tournament in 17 seasons. The 24-9 record was a 15-win improvement from the 9-17 team he inherited and ranked as one of the nationâ€™s top turnarounds. Prior to his arrival at UNO, the Mavs had not won a league title since 1984 and had
not won more than 20 games in a season since 1990.

As a player at Creighton from 1977-1981, McKenna led the Bluejays to a Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship, two MVC Tournament titles and a pair of NCAA Tournaments. He was an All-MVC pick and team MVP in each of his fi nal two seasons.

McKenna ended his collegiate career with exactly 1,500 points and was drafted in the fourth round of the 1981 draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a member of the Lakersâ€™ 1982 NBA championship team and also played for Indiana, New Jersey and Washington during a six-year NBA career.

He remains the only person in league history to win an MVC regular-season title, MVC Tournament title, NBA championship and CBA crown.

Following his NBA career, McKenna helped lead the La Crosse Catbirds to the 1989-90 CBA Championship as a player and assistant coach. He then served as the head coach and director of basketball operations for the CBAâ€™s Sioux Falls Skyforce from 1990-93. He spent time as a regional scout for the Washington Bullets in 1993-94 before returning to Creighton as an assistant to Dana Altman in 1994.

He earned his bachelorâ€™s degree in organizational communications from Creighton in 1993 and added a masterâ€™s degree in counseling education from his alma mater in 1997. McKenna and his wife, Nancy, have a daughter Megan (22) and a son, Bobby (15).

Story Highlights

Indiana State University Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman announced Thursday(March 29)that Kevin McKenna has accepted an offer to become the 24th head menâ€™s basketball coach at ISU. McKenna succeeds Royce Waltman, who guided the Sycamores for the last 10 seasons.